Page 22 of Christmas Crisis
“As long as you’re really okay with it. I got the idea in my head around hour sixteen of my drive, so it’s possibly just a crazy thought fueled by gas station donuts and sleep deprivation.”
The more he hedged, the more I warmed to the plan. I hadn’t been to Disneyland in ages. Partly because it wasn’t an on-brand thing for @theadventurousmiranda. I’d spent too many days in service to that version of myself. This was for Leo and me.
“I actually haven’t been in a long time,” I told him. “Now that you’ve suggested it, I’m excited.”
“Cool.” He stood and walked nonchalantly to the hall bathroom, his button still undone.
As I got down two bowls for cereal and downloaded the Disneyland app to my phone, it occurred to me that Leo and I had completely skipped past any awkwardness that might have been expected considering we hadn’t seen each other in person for months. Nope. He fell asleep on my couch and woke up asking to go to Disneyland. No stops in between.
I chuckled, pouring the Strawberry Shredded Wheat I’d stocked up on for him.
Chapter six
Leo
NOW
Imeant what I’d said to Miranda earlier. I didn’t know how to date someone. All my attempts were in the distant past, and all had been varying degrees of terrible.
My first thought was to just act the way we always had. Then I realized it wasn’t possible. Because everything had changed. What we’d said on Halloween—we couldn’t unsay it. What I knew about Miranda and myself—I couldn’t unknow it.
But that didn’t mean I couldn’t shove it down into a corner of my brain and forget about it. For now.
The twitchy awareness of her I felt under my skin would have been there with or without this latest disaster with Stone, but I appreciated being able to blame any strange behavior I might exhibit on nerves caused by our fake relationship.
As we drove up I-5 from Tacoma, I tried not to think about all the things I hadn’t told her.
About how, after our fight, I’d called, planning to lay myself bare and make amends.
But when Stone picked up her phone, I’d swallowed my confession.
I shook off the bitter memory. For now, I focused on our date. Letting myself have a taste of what it might be like to be with someone.
To be with her.
“Are we going into the city?” she asked, fidgeting with the zipper on her North Face jacket.
Her date-night outfit consisted of a casual coat, jeans, a flannel, and boots. She’d put on more makeup than usual, and her hair was down instead of in a bun or ponytail. When she’d come out of the second bedroom, she’d sheepishly explained that Shoshanna advised her to look as much like her Instagram persona as possible when we went out together, to further our chances of being recognized. The makeup and hair were her attempts to show that she cared enough to get a little fussy for her “boyfriend.” I’d rolled my eyes at the calculation involved in what clothes to wear, but she looked fantastic. She always did.
“Not quite that far.”
I pulled into the parking lot of a mall south of Seattle city limits. At first, Miranda looked confused. Then I circled the main building, and she saw our destination.
“Here?” she asked, staring up at the massive arcade and bowling alley.
“Why not? I’m guessing you’re in the mood to hit something, and they’ve got Whac-A-Mole and Skee Ball and air hockey to choose from, not to mention a ton of shooter games. We can also bowl if you want.” At her continued silence, I wondered if I’d miscalculated. “We can leave if it’s not okay. I figured you could use the noise and the distraction. But if you’d rather do something else, I’m totally down for a change of plans.”
“It’s perfect, Leo.” She looked around as we strode in, almost losing her balance when a group of rowdy preteens raced by, shoving each other and laughing. “A birthday fit for a ten-year-old…and also this twenty-seven-year-old.”
I breathed a sigh of relief as I bought cards to use for the games. No matter what weirdness existed between us at the moment, I knew my friend. She needed a break from being the Instagram version of herself. @theadventurousmiranda would probably spend her birthday taking long walks on the beach or having a candlelit dinner in an exotic locale. And there was a world where the Miranda I knew wanted that too. But right now, she needed to be reminded that I saw the other side of her—the part that loved the colorful lights and loud noises. She didn’t need a beautiful sunset. She needed buzzing neon, plastic cheese nachos, and the discordantding ding dingof someone winning a prize at the claw machine.
Miranda cackled as I embarrassed myself on the ancientDance Dance Revolutionplatform and clapped maniacally whenever one of my Skee balls landed in the ten-point circle. I got my revenge by demolishing her in a dinosaur-themed shooting game. As we played and got sweaty, she ditched her fleece, revealing a T-shirt underneath that readI’ll Wait While You Overthink This. The hair she’d styled before we left my apartment got twisted into a knot on top of her head.
After two hours of games, we moved to the bowling alley. I’d just picked up a spare when I noticed a group of teenagers attempting to take covert pictures of us on their phones. Both Miranda’s and Stone’s statements had been in the world for a few hours, and it was obvious we’d been recognized.
My back stiffened as I sat down in the hard plastic chair across from the ball return.
Miranda took the seat next to me, resting her head on my shoulder. “Don’t mind them,” she said. “I know it’s weird. But hopefully, it means the plan is working.” She patted my thigh. “Besides, you have more important things to worry about right now.”
